Harry and the house-elves---another view

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 162145

Alla wrote:
> 
> They may or they may not. Till enchantment is lifted, we do not have 
> the complete picture IMO.
> 
Carol responds:
But what exactly is this enchantment? Who placed it, on whom, and
when? does it affect all house-elves as a species or individual
house-elves or house-elves descended from the first elf bound to a
particular family? What if it can't be lifted or they placed it on
themselves?

The only quote I can think of related to such an enchantment is
Dobby's remark in CoS that he's "bound to serve one house and one
family forever," which turns out not to be true. He's now free to
choose his own employment and/or master, and he's chosen to work for
humans at Hogwarts for as little pay and with as little free time as
possible, at the same time also choosing to serve Harry.

Kreacher appears magically bound to serve Harry but tries to find ways
out of doing so. However, he seems perfectly willing to serve "the
pureblood grand-nephew of [his] old mistress," indicating that it
isn't serving Wizards that he objects to, it's only serving the enemy
of the Wizard family he's loyal to. The binding enchantment that
compels a house-elf to serve a particular master seems to be separate
from the desire to serve Wizards in general, which remains in place
regardless of loyalty or disloyalty to a particular owner or master.
(In Winky, we see those desires working together--she wants to work
for the master she's loyal to, only in her case, he's freed her
against her will. She's not magically compelled to serve anybody. She
wants to serve the Crouches and can't.)

I don't think that lifting some generalized enchantment, if one exists
and if it's possible to do so, is going to do the trick. House-elves
will want to serve in some Wizard's house no matter what. I think the
only solution is to legislate humane conditions (and to teach Wizards
to regard house-elves as fellow beings with thoughts and feelings,
however different from their own.

Alla:
<snip>
> And I do not see wizards go and try to imprison Giants. Who sure are 
> dangerous and violent, many of them. <snip>

Carol:
So you concede that giants are by nature different from humans (Wizard
or not). Maybe house-elves are different by nature, too, not only in
their appearance and their magical abilities but in their psychology.
They seem to *want* to serve humans, to take pride and pleasure in
serving them well, especially humans who treat them with kindness and
respect (as Dumbledore says). They appreciate a thank you and a
compliment, as indicated by the house-elves at Hogwarts.

> Eric Oppen:
>   And, again, you can't generalize from Dobby, or Winky.  Neither of
them is particularly typical of house-elves. 
> 
> Alla:
> 
> And again, I disagree, if I had been given to see up close and 
> personal three house elves only, I may assume that those are 
> **typical** house elves. IMO of course.

Carol:
How can Kreacher, Dobby, and winky be typical when they're all so
different from each other and from the hundreds of house-elves at
Hogwarts, who are virtually indistinguishable? Maybe Kreacher and
Dobby, each in his own way, are "typical" of mistreated house-elves,
who rebel against hated masters by sneaking out on them and helping
their enemies, but Dobby is the only house-elf we've seen who wants
and appreciates freedom; Kreacher has expressed no such desire. And
maybe Winky is typical of "freed" (fired) house-elves, who become
despondent and take to drinking butterbeer if it's available (though
at first Winky seemed willing to try to find employment with Dobby;
evidently, it's only when she saw how happy the Hogwarts elves in
general were that she realized how much she missed her master. Or
maybe the butterbeer wasn't available as consolation until she got
there). At any rate, we haven't seen any other house-elves in their
particular situations, so we don't know whether they're typical or not.

Hogwarts house-elves, in contrast, all act in the same way (happy to
serve "miss" and "masters" until they hear Hermione's views on
house-elf rights, after which they escort HRH out of the kitchens).
They appear to be typical of house-elves who are well treated by their
masters--proud of their calling and of doing an excellent job of
cooking and cleaning, ashamed of fellow elves who disgrace them by
drinking and being dirty, and regarding those who talk about freedom
as eccentric or dangerous. Winky was once that kind of typical
house-elf, proud to do important tasks (watching over the Imperiused
Barty Jr.) for her master and to keep his secrets--and, of course, to
keep his house clean. She believes that he's ill because he needs her.
It's only when she's freed that she becomes atypical--slovenly,
drunken, unwilling to work. If Crouch had taken her back, I have no
doubt that she'd have served him happily and well.

If serving humans is in their nature (as the evidence I've cited
indicates) and they enjoy doing it (as they clearly do when they're
serving a master they love and respect), why deny them the right to do
it? Why insult them by offering them freedom when they don't want it?
IMO, the Weasleys, who have grown up in the WW, understand house-elves
(and giants) much better than Muggle-raised Hermione does.

Let them do what they do well. Let them be happy. If you treat them
kindly and give them basic comforts--food, tea towels, and shelter,
with the means of keeping clean--they'll be happy. Unless they're
atypical house-elves like Winky and Kreacher, both of whom may be too
far gone to be helped.

Carol, thinking that lifting whatever enchantment is placed on
house-elves is not the answer; the only solution is understanding
their nature and respecting their needs